Week 11 Fantasy Football Dark Horse Sleeper: RB Le’Veon Bell

By Adam McGill

When fantasy football drafts were in full swing this summer, one of the most popular rookies was RB Le’Veon Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The former Michigan State Spartan had a strong training camp and the popular back was flying up draft charts. An unfortunate injury, though, caused the first-year back to miss the first three weeks of the 2013 season. Bell suffered a Lisfranc injury early in the year and it caused him to be somewhat forgotten over the first couple weeks of the season.

Bell scored two touchdowns in his first game of the season and looked like a very promising fantasy option moving forward. Since his two-touchdown debut, though, Bell has been rather unpredictable. He hasn’t had a single 100-yard rushing performance and the youngster has only scored two touchdowns over the last five games. He is also averaging a meager 3.3 yards per carry.

However, Pittsburgh’s o-line has been playing utterly horrendous this season. The line hasn’t been able to open up many running lanes and Bell’s rushing totals have suffered as a result. He has been forced to take whatever he can get and become more involved in the passing game. The running back has quietly amassed 43.6 receiving yards over his last three games and has emerged as a safety blanket for Big Ben to look for.

This week Pittsburgh will face a Detroit Lions team that has had problems defensively all season long. The 244-pound back is a very tough inside rusher and will punish Detroit on every carry. Bell should have no problem finishing the game with 80-100 all-purpose yards and at least score one touchdown.

If you have the rookie running back on your roster, make sure to get him active for Week 11.